Promises Kept
by penguino3782
Summary: Damn Pope for making him do this. His stomach is in knots but J has no other choice. He made Pope a promise. Takes place several years in the future when all is said and done.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Animal Kingdom.**

 **A/N: I have no idea where the idea for this even came from, but I just couldn't help myself. This takes place a couple of years in the future after the crazy-ass season three finale. If you want things to end all happy for the Cody family, turn away now. And it is also triggery because there is a reference made to suicide. So, please if you think this may upset you, please don't read this.**

 **Promises Kept**

J goes to knock on the door but drops his hand to his side. He raises it again to knock but once again he drops his hand. Just do it. He goes for the third time to knock but the door opens before he can do so.

"J!" A warm face greets him. "Come on in."

"Thanks, Jen." He replies as she lets him into the house.

"How are you? How are things?" she asks as they make their way to the back of the house.

Even though J has met Jen a couple of times over the last couple of times, her genuine kind demeanor still unnerves him a bit. He's not used to nice people. In his experience when people are nice, they usually want something in return.

"It's okay," J replies.

"You all registered to start classes?"

"Yep, better late than never, I guess. At my age most people are close to graduating and I'm just starting."

Then again, most people his age haven't experienced what he has.

Jen gives him another warm smile. "Sweety, it doesn't matter how old you are. You're trying to better yourself. That's a great thing to do at any age."

J returns the smile. Not just to be nice, but because he is grateful. Grateful that Jen is being kind to him for no specific reason other than because it's the right thing to do. "Thank you."

"No problem,"Jen says as they enter the kitchen. "I think it's really admirable that you're going to study drug counseling."

J nods. It was an easy choice. He very well couldn't major in planning heists and money laundering. Plus, he has plenty of real life experience with addicts. He probably won't even need to read any of the required reading. This program is going to be a breeze.

"Okay, well enough small talk. She's out back," Jen says tilting her head towards the backyard.

"She knows I'm coming, right? She said it was okay?" J asks.

Jen nods her head. "She's the one who asked me to call you. She knows that Kyle and I have been speaking with you over the last couple of months. And like we agreed on, I told her that you would like to see her but the decision was up to her. And she told me yesterday that she wants to see you."

"Okay," J answers as he nears the sliding glass door. He looks onto the patio but doesn't move. It's like his feet are nailed to the ground. Why is he even here? Damn Pope. Damn Pope for making him make a promise to a dying a man.

"Go on," Jen urges with a calm smile. "It'll be okay."

J lets out a loud sigh. He can do this. He has to. Before he can lose his nerve, he opens the sliding door. She's sitting in a wicker chair, her attention fully on her phone.

"Lena?" J says.

Lena looks up from her phone when she hears her name. Gone is the seven-year old he last saw with the missing baby teeth. She gives him a beautiful smile, no doubt from Cat. "Hey, J."

He walks closer to her and she stands up from her chair making her way to him. Her limbs are a little too long for the rest of her body. She must have just hit a growth spurt. They meet about half way. J doesn't how he should greet her. Shake her hand? Hug her? Do nothing at all? There isn't exactly anything on the internet about reuniting with your cousin/half sister after she's been in foster care for the last four years.

Lena must sense his awkwardness. "Come sit down." He takes the invitation and takes the seat across from her. "You look the same."

"You don't," J replies honestly.

Lena laughs. "Yeah, I was a little kid the last time I saw you."

Lena leans back in her chair. She pushes a strand of long hair behind her ear. "So, we're the only ones left now. Huh? I know everyone's gone, well except you. And me."

J bites his lip. "Deran is in South America with Adrian."

J doesn't tell Lena that despite his original intentions to take away all of Smurf's loved ones, he let Deran go. Let him live his own life like he wanted. Even with growing up the way he did, Deran wanted out. It was Smurf and Smurf's fucked up way of raising his uncles that kept Deran coming back. Deran was all too happy to take the out that J offered him. Get the hell out of California and stay gone. There wasn't much for him here after Craig anyway.

"And Craig?"

"He died because of an accident," J leaves out the fact that it was an accidental drug overdose. Or of his role in it. How Deran and Pope came to him begging him for help when Craig's drug habit really got out of hand. With Smurf's cash flow all but ceased, they came to him hoping that he would help get Craig clean. But, he turned a blind eye. Where was this concern when his mother was alive? When he was eating butter sandwiches because his mom spent the last of that month's check.

"Smurf?"

"She's gone too," J says. Just like with his uncles, he doesn't give any more details. He was never one to say much anyway. He doesn't tell her about his part in their grandmother's untimely demise down in Mexico.

"And…Pope?" Lena asks brokenly.

J sighs. Pope's death was by far the hardest. It was the most tragic. Propelled by Smurf's manipulations. It's been almost a year and he's still having nightmares about that night. Walking into Lena's room to find Pope curled into a ball on her bed, his hands clutching his stomach. Covering the mortal wound. Because leave it to Pope to prolong his suffering. He had to shoot himself in the gut and not in the head when his death would be instantons and painless.

No, Lena doesn't need to know about that. Nor does she need to know that when he lays down at night he can still hear what Pope told him that night. _Promise me you will look after Lena. She's your sister. Look after her like we should have looked after your mom. Don't let Smurf near her. Promise me._

Lena doesn't need to know that as Pope closed his eyes for the final time that Smurf's fate was sealed.

Lena doesn't need to know that J waited until 12:01 to call the cops so that Pope's date of death was not the same as Lena's birthday.

J nods his head. "Yeah, Lena. He's gone too."

"Mom. I mean, Jen took me to his grave. I saw that you had him buried next to your mom."

J nods. There was no way in hell he was going to have his mom and Pope buried in the plots that Smurf bought them. Not with the role she played in both of their deaths.

"I'm glad that you came to see me. I was afraid that you guys all forgot about me. I haven't seen you in so long."

J shakes his head. "No, Lena. We never forgot about you. Especially, not Pope."

"But, he never came to see me."

Damn Pope. He should be here having this conversation, not J. "He wanted to Lena. He just knew that he couldn't be what you needed. Not after what happened with your mom and dad. But, he was always thinking of you."

Lena looks unsure and begins to play with a piece of her hair.

"He was," J tries to reassure her. Even when he was dying he was thinking of her.

"So why did you decide now to see me? Pope has been gone for almost a year."

He had to wait until Smurf was gone. He wouldn't let her get near Lena. He made Pope that promise.

"I've been trying to get things in order. Get my GED. Apply to college."

"You're going to college? Where?"

Lena's cell phone goes off before he can answer. She looks at it and a huge smile spreads across her face when she looks at the screen.

"Who is it?" J asks.

"My boyfriend," Lena replies with a shy smile.

"You have a boyfriend?" J asks.

"Yep. His name is Caiden. Do you have a girlfriend?"

J nods with a smile. "I don't know if you can call her my girlfriend, but there is a girl."

"It's not Nikki, right?"

J can't help but laugh. "It's not Nikki. Her name is Chelsea. We've been hanging out for a couple of months."

Things are still new with Chelsea. He met her at the registrar's office when he went to find out his payment options for school. They're taking things slow. He doesn't know where things may lead with Chelsea, but he knows that he doesn't want to mess things up. He counts his blessings every day that he met her after both Pope and Smurf died. That way she can't get dragged into the fucked up Cody family dynamics.

"Am I going to get to meet her?" Lena asks.

J is shocked. He never expected that when Lena agreed to see him that it would lead to a request like this. He just thought it would be a onetime thing. Exchange phone numbers. Maybe exchange texts on birthdays and holidays. But, not this. Something more.

"You want to meet Chels?"

Lena rolls her eyes. "Obvs, aren't you supposed to meet your brother's girlfriend? I met my sister, Hailey's boyfriend. He's kind of an asshole."

J eyes go huge. Not only at Lena's use of profanity but also at her reference to him being her brother.

"What? I know you're my brother."

"You know about that?"

"Yeah, when I was little. Before, mom….left. Back when you first moved in with Smurf. I heard Dad and Mom talking when they thought I was sleeping. Why didn't you come live with us at our house?"

J doesn't know how much Lena remembers when she was younger. And he really doesn't want to dwell on Baz rejecting him when he asked him if he was his father. He tries not to think about it, but Baz' stone cold rejection still stings after all these years. "Things were complicated back then."

"And they're not now?" Lena says with a roll of her eyes.

"Fair enough,"

"So when am I going to get to meet Chelsea?" Lena asks again. "Does she know about me?"

J nods. He told Chelsea some things. Lena being one of them. He also told her what he promised Pope. Then again, she didn't give him much of a choice after she had to talk him out of a panic attack one night after he had that dream again. She knows about his shitty childhood and his mom's death. But, she doesn't know everything. He can't tell her. It'll ruin her. Like it did Nikki.

"She knows I came to see you today." Truth be told, it was Chelsea who stopped him from calling Jen up to cancel his visit. She's his calm when things get to be too much.

"Lena!" Jen calls from the doorway. "I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but you need to get ready for lacrosse practice."

"Crap, I forgot." Lena says as she stands up.

J stands up to walk beside her. "You play lacrosse?"

"Oh yeah! I love it. I'm an attacker."

"A what?" J asks.

"Attacker. I score goals." Lena explains as she turns to him. "Do you want to come to one of my games. I mean you don't have to. I bet you're real busy with school starting and Chelsea. But if you want…"

The kid is rambling looking down at the ground. Probably afraid that he'll say no. It doesn't take a genius to see that despite Pope's best intentions, him leaving Lena with the Shaw's had an effect on her. Made her think that the rest of the family forgot about her.

"Sure, I'll come."

"You promise?" Lena asks.

For a second J feels like he's been punched in the gut as he thinks about the last time he heard those words. The last time he was made a promise.

"J?" Lena asks him with wide eyes.

"Yeah, sorry. I promise. I'll come to one of your games."

And he will. If he was able to keep the promise he made to Pope, then he can keep this one too.

"Awesome! And maybe you can bring Chelsea..."

J chuckles. "One step at a time, Lena."

"Fiiiine," Lena says as they go into the house.

 **I hope I didn't scare all of you off. For those who are still with me, I'm thinking of doing a prequel to this about the night Pope died. But, I'll only do it if you guys want me to…**


End file.
